Gianaris- a champion for change

Well, New Yorkers, here’s a champion for your cause. In an article posted on The Queens Gazette, lawmaker Michael Gianaris speaks out for mandatory notice of bedbug cases to all parents at affected schools. He asks the director of the Office of School Health at the city Department of Education, “to consider these recommendations before the financially and emotionally devastating effects of bedbugs impact New Yorkers on a much larger scale.”

Financially and emotionally devastating effects of bedbugs? Guess he’s paranoid, too, huh? Mara Altman, this is yet another reason for you to be worried. By the way, I can tell you where you can buy some of that DE to make snow angels out of, and cheap!

The article goes on to say

Gianaris said if his proposed change is made, the notice should include important information including prevention techniques, treatment options and important contact information for relevant agencies, including the Department of Education (DOE), the Office of School Health, and the city’s Department of Health.

Yes– this is good. It is ridiculous, really. Parents need to be told if a bedbug is in the kid’s school–regardless of who or what the bedbug was ON. Here’s why:

1/ Bed bugs are arguably easier to spread than lice. Why? Because you have to come in close contact with someone’s hair or hat or hair accessories, in order to catch lice. Bed bugs, meanwhile, can walk out of someone else’s pants cuff and walk into your backpack.

2/ It sounds from the original article that the 24 schools where 34 students were found with bed bugs that the bugs were on the students. BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THEY CAME INTO THE BUILDING ON THE STUDENTS! The bed bugs could easily be nesting in the school and climb on children. I think this is very likely.

(Note to those new to bed bugs: yes, they do come out and bite in the daytime, even in a lighted room.)

I’d want to know there were bed bugs at school so I could inspect at home. Ultimately this is going to get very messy whether parents are notified or not. Unlike lice, they can’t simply inspect the kid’s head. And lots of us take ages to see bed bugs even when they’re biting us. So knowing won’t help parents prevent bed bugs in many cases. They still have a right to know and to get a chance to try and do anything they can to catch an infestation early.

What WILL it absolutely help with? Simple: people will start taking this epidemic seriously. The city will do nothing until people are up in arms demanding the city health dept. take action (as its done in Boston, and Lexington KY, among other places.)

Homeless people who live in shelters in Cranston Rhode Island, marched to a politicians office in protest of the bed bugs in their shelters…Homeless people can tolerate a lot…but they could not tolerate bed bugs…Doesn’t this tell us something !! Parents who are kept in the dark because of the Board of Educations refusal to “out” this problem are going to take matters into their own hands when bed bugs start showing up in their homes…the bottom line is …problems need solving…and so far no one is solving the problem of bed bugs…that is the problem..this is why Schools and government officials are keeping mum….they can’t give us any answers….so they are buying time…and the more time they buy the more the bug spreads…and the more parents are going to panic….the only human response to finding bedbugs in the home is one of panic…why??? because a bedbug infestation destroys the peace and sanctity of a home..they take away all quality of life….and the only POSSIBLE solution is multiple exerminations……..multiple..exterminations..and the loss of so many belongings…and the total upheaval of one’s belongings…and multiple exterminations…and the stigma of infestation…..exhaustion…depression..agitation…nervousness …lack of sleep……….this is the bed bug scenario…….